Snow and Strawberries
by HirokoArita
Summary: A storm rolls in and Yuki's secret base is in trouble! Tohru offers to help in order to save her precious strawberries. Is this the perfect opportunity for Yuki? Was a oneshot but kinda got out of control. Hope you enjoy it! Yukiru, implied KaguraKyo
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Fruits Basket!**

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Yuki sighed in resignation as the dark clouds began to roll in. It seemed the entire world was out to ruin his strawberries. The only reason he had planted them in the first place was because he knew _she_ liked them. It was funny; he'd never actually asked her but strawberries just seemed the kind of thing she'd like even though she seemed to like everything. He was pretty sure she couldn't hate even if she tried.

When it all came down to it, he supposed that was the reason he loved her so much in the first place and it had become so ingrained into his life that he couldn't remember a time when he didn't know her and didn't love her. It was hard to believe it had been three years ago that she had showed up on their doorstep, admiring the zodiac figurines Shigure had made.

Really they all loved her, but for Yuki is was different. For Yuki, she was his other half, his rescuer; without her, he may very well have succumbed to Akito's damaging abuse that had haunted him for so long.

Akito; he was a problem Yuki had long been pondering. He was the only grounds behind his not bearing his heart before her, telling her everything. He was sure she felt the same way; something in the way she looked at him with those big blue eyes, the way she made sure she spent even just a few minutes with him every day and the way he frequently found special tid bits in his dinner that she didn't give anyone else and was always watching him to gauge his reaction.

No, Akito would just have to cope… or he could just not tell him. It wasn't as though they were going to be married anytime soon although that was a distinct possibility for the years to come in Yuki's mind.

He would tell her soon.

"Sohma-kun," Yuki felt his mouth twitch upwards at the corners as it always did whenever she was around, "those clouds look angry don't they."

"Honda-san, I was just thinking of going to check on the secret base. Would you like to come?"

'_Tohru, Tohru!' _Yuki angrily berated himself, _'just how hard is it to call her by her first name?" _

She had done it once; called him by his first name. Well, his school nickname at least. It had been enough however; the moment she had uttered the words he had been so taken aback that he had transformed. It had been more than a little embarrassing. She had completely missed the significance of it in her inimitable style but a lot had happened in two years.

"Sohma-kun? Are you alright?"

Yuki shook himself out of his reflections, turning to her and smiling the smile he kept only for her.

"Yes Honda-san. Will you come?"

"Of course!" her smile widened, the smile she only used for him he had noticed, "Besides, I'm looking forward to those strawberries. It would be a shame if they were ruined so close to being ready."

"It would. Let's go?"

"Sure."

As they ventured out into the storm, calling to Shigure that they were leaving on their way out, Yuki considered the fact that Tohru herself was very much like the fruit she loved so much. She was bright, colourful and above all, incredibly sweet. To him, Tohru was perfect.

Suddenly, it seemed that he had to tell her how he felt; he needed an answer.

"Honda-san," he began, taking two of the corners of the tarpaulin he used to cover his garden and handing the other two to Tohru, "can I tell you something?"

Tohru smiled her special smile, "Of course Sohma-kun, you can tell me anything."

He was silent as he quickly hammered in the pegs, as always carefully considering his words before he said them. Tohru waited patiently, holding down her end of the tarp; she had come to know that Yuki never said anything unless he thought it was worth saying. It was slightly ironic that she could refer to him so easily in her head as 'Yuki' but found it so difficult to say to his face.

It had started out as a playful formality in response to his politeness but it had turned into something else; as though it was a huge deal to call him by his first name. Besides, the last time she had done so, he had transformed. It must have caused him a good deal of stress so to be kind to him she refrained from saying it and it had just become a habit.

'_Yuki, Yuki!' _she silently berated herself, _'Why is that so hard to say?' _

_Snow. _That's what his name meant and in a way it was apt. He was so serene and reserved like snow after a storm, but put him in the same room as Kyou or Akito and suddenly he was cold and unforgiving although that was lessening in regards to Kyou. He even resembled snow to some degree, what with his pale skin and silvery hair.

Tohru stiffened slightly as Yuki crossed to her side of the garden and began hammering in the pegs. Once finished he knelt down on the grass facing her and raised his violet eyes to her face, capturing her gaze.

"Honda-san, I'm… I'm afraid."

Tohru frowned in confusion, "Why would Sohma-kun be afraid?"

"I'm afraid because if I say what I want to say we may both regret it… Akito…" he lowered his eyes and suddenly became very interested in his hands.

For the first time in her life, Tohru knew exactly what he was talking about before he had a chance to explain. She was quite proud of herself really.

"Sohma-kun," she said firmly making sure he looked back at her before she continued, "what does Akito have to do with anything?" she held up a hand to forestall his arguments. "It's like my mother always says, never give up fighting for the things you want."

Yuki felt his lips curve upwards into a smile as what she had said sank in. He suddenly decided to do something on impulse; he closed the distance between her and cupping her cheek in one hand, he kissed her. After a few seconds his brain not only registered the fact that he had done anything spontaneous at all, but that she was kissing him back.

"I love you, Tohru." He whispered in her ear after breaking the kiss.

He moved back so he could gauge her reaction and couldn't help the wide grin that crept onto his face. They stared at each other, grinning, for such a long time that neither noticed it start to rain.

"Yuki! You used my first name." She murmured loud enough for her voice to carry over the rain that was steadily soaking them both to the bone.

Yuki's eyes widened in shock. _'oh bugger.' _He thought as he felt the transformation coming on. There was a puff of white smoke as he disappeared suddenly felt himself falling from a great height.

"Yuki!" Tohru exclaimed, lunging forward to catch him.

She missed.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Yuki. I forgot that you transformed when I… I'm so sorry."

She continued to babble for a few more minutes but trailed off when she heard a muffled crying coming from somewhere in the empty pile of Yuki's clothes. She drew back his shirt and stared at the sight that greeted her eyes.

Yuki, the rat, was doubled over on the ground, convulsing with laughter. Her worry evaporated in an instant and she found herself joining him, her happiness at the events of the past few minutes bubbling to the surface.

They calmed down by the time Yuki had changed back and they were both soaked to the bone.

"We should go back Tohru-chan." Yuki said, wiping his dripping hair out of his eyes.

"I know," Tohru sighed, "but I don't want to."

They sat in companionable silence for a few seconds before Yuki spoke.

"Tohru, would you mind if… if I kissed you again?"

Tohru smiled Yuki's special smile and shook her head so he complied, kissing her gently and wiping her long brown hair off her face.

"I never got to say it."

Yuki frowned, "say what?"

"I love you to Yuki."

Once the smoke had cleared and Tohru had stopped apologizing, Yuki smiled reassuringly, or at least as reassuring as you can get when you're a rat with ridiculously long front teeth. He really didn't mind, and in time, he knew he would get used to being on first name basis. One thought did cross his mind that made him lose his smile momentarily.

Shigure would never let him live it down.

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**Well there you go. Thoughts, comments? Please review!**

**Oh and just a quick question - do you think I should write another chapter or leave it as a oneshot??? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey it's me again! Yay! **

**Due to the response I got from everyone, I decided to write another installment. I don't think it's as good as the first but then nothing ever is... let's hope this is an exception! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Fruits Basket!**

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**Yuki sighed contentedly and smiled to himself as he stared out of the top floor window of the school. Exams were over in about, he glanced at his watch, five minutes, and he would finally be rid of the countless irritations that had followed him around for the past three years, not least of which was the fan club. 

In spite of himself, Yuki rolled his eyes in amusement. In the space of about a week he'd had to disappoint, at last count, thirteen besotted teenage girls. The thing that annoyed him the most about it was that not one of them _knew_ him. They were all 'in love' with him because he was ridiculously good looking, a fact that he had no false modesty about. It reeked of a stifling superficiality that he really couldn't stand. Consequently, looking around the classroom, Yuki could see lots of gloomy faces.

His gaze, however, came to rest on one face that he had only ever seen really gloomy once or twice. His lips quirked up at the corners as he realized this was probably the thousandth time since _that _afternoon that he had caught himself staring at her.

It was strange; he'd always felt some degree of possessiveness for her. He'd always put it down to her being such a huge part of his family until the real reason dawned on him a few months ago. On one of those rare occasions where he and Kyou had actually had an intelligent conversation without attempting to kill one another, the red-head had startled him into that realisation. Yuki had asked him how he felt about her and he had turned to him with a knowing smile which he had thought was evidence of his spending too much time with Shigure.

_"I don't want to go out with her if that's what you mean. She's like my sister, I care about her. Same as you right?" _

Yuki had remained silent in thought for a few seconds before feeling the conversation had taken a turn for the worst in terms of breaking from tradition.

"_So nothing like Kagura then."_

To his utter surprise, Kyou didn't rise to the bait, merely shrugging his shoulders and jumping down off the roof. Yuki had recovered from his shock to smile; perhaps the boar was finally getting through to him. He resolved to question him about it… or on second thought, maybe suggest it to Tohru.

He propped his head up on his hand so it covered his mouth, and continued to stare out the window. It had been a week since the events at secret base and Yuki was finding it very hard to wipe the smile off his face. Even the thought of the impending exams couldn't get him down.

It was the most incredible feeling; knowing that the person you loved, loved you back. He knew the light-headedness would pass eventually but he had resolved to enjoy it for as long as he could before the realities of working at relationships truly set in, not to mention the teasing.

Fortunately for him, if Shigure had noticed anything out of the ordinary when Yuki and Tohru burst into the house dripping wet, laughing and hand-in-hand that day, he hadn't mentioned it. He had merely shot Yuki a significant 'look' and closed the door to his study, a knowing and wry smile crossing his face.

Kyou seemed equally in the dark about it and Yuki was convinced it should stay that way for now, not least of all because of the head of the Sohma family, but because of the lectures he would receive from Hattori, Shigure, even Ayame. He shuddered at the thought of being subjected to the sort of 'birds and the bees' talk his older brother could think up.

But seriously, Akito, while he might be a problem later on, wouldn't be an issue. After all, he had let Hattori and Kana's relationship proceed to the point it had before he intervened. Yuki reasoned he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

He jumped in surprise as someone rapped him sharply on the head. Kyou raised an eyebrow at him as he put the ruler back in his bag.

"Hey ya damn rat, pay attention. Are you coming or are you going to stay here for the rest of your life?"

Yuki started and, lowering his arm, looked around the rapidly emptying classroom. He stopped as he spotted Tohru still sitting at her desk, unmoving. He frowned and slipped out of his seat.

"I'll catch up." He muttered to Kyou on his way past.

Ignoring his relative's confused 'ok' he wove his way quickly through the groups of milling students over to where she sat near the front of the room.

"Tohru-san?" Yuki knelt at her side, looking up into her expressionless, frozen face. His frown deepened. "Tohru, what's wrong?"

She took a deep breath and raised her head, tears starting to fall. "I've finished." She said softly. "I've finished, just like mother always wanted."

Yuki silently berated himself. While he had been walking on air, Tohru had been trying to ignore the emotionally straining thought of finishing high school without her mother. How could he have missed that?

At the back of the room Hana's head came up with a snap and she pointed over to Tohru. Uo followed her friend's finger and frowned.

"What's up?"

"I'm not sure." The black-haired girl said in her slow, velvety voice. "I suggest we watch."

Yuki sighed and, with his long fingers under her chin, turned her face towards him. With his other hand he brushed the tears away.

"Tohru-chan,"

Across the room, just within ear-shot, Hana and Uo raised their eyebrows

"why are you crying? Your mother would be so proud of you."

Tohru smiled down at him, the special smile that never failed to make him melt into a puddle on the floor. "I know Yuki-kun, that's why I'm crying."

Yuki was confused.

Tohru sniffed and smiled reassuringly, "I'm crying because I'm happy. Please Yuki, you don't need to worry about me."

Yuki stood up, placed one hand on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

"I do Tohru-chan, but it's ok; I think I'm supposed to." He said, helping her to her feet with a fond smile.

Uo and Hana's eyebrows had shot up so far, they were disappearing into their hairlines. Hana, ever the more subtle of the two, cleared her throat significantly.

"And why is that Yuki?" Uo asked as sweetly as she could which, given the fact she was standing with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed dangerously, wasn't really pleasant at all.

Both Yuki and Tohru jumped, sending the contents of Tohru's pencil-box flying to all corners of the room.

"Uh…" Yuki began, cursing himself for his eloquence.

"They're dating." Hana observed in her dead-pan voice.

In the silence that followed, Yuki felt oddly like a dear caught in the headlights.

Uo suddenly grinned, "well finally!" She exclaimed. "We were wondering when you were going to cook up the courage to ask her. Congratulations!"

Yuki blinked.

"Yes, congratulations." Hana told them, her face expressionless as she wiped her eyes.

Yuki blinked.

"We'll see you at the badminton courts. Later!" Uo called as they headed out the door into the corridor.

Yuki blinked again.

Tohru took one look at the stunned amazement on his face and collapsed into laughter. Yuki was still staring at the door in shock as she slipped her hand into his.

"What just happened?" He asked her in his soft voice.

"Look on the bright side," she told him, giving his hand a comforting squeeze before bending to start picking up her things, "at least it wasn't Shigure."

Yuki, as he got on his hands and knees to help her, had to admit she had a point.

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**So there you have it. Thankyou sooooo much to all of you who reviewed! It really meant a lot! **

**Let me know if you want more! I'm thinking of adding another one-shot - maybe Kyo/Kagura? (I still firmly believe he'll come round ;) ) **

**Review review review:)**

**Thanks!**

**_Hiroko_**


	3. Chapter 3

_Whoo! Two chapters! Isn't that exciting?? Hopefully I'll get the story finished before Uni goes back (I live in Australia so that'll be sometime around the end of February... heh, you've gotta love those summer holidays!) _

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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"Uh, Shigure?"

The novelist looked up from his game of computer solitaire and smiled, "Yuki! What an unexpected surprise. Come in, come in."

The teenager rolled his eyes at is cousin's expansive gestures before entering the small study, taking a seat on the ground and resting his back against one of the many bookcases that lined the walls.

Shigure studied his younger cousin's customarily expressionless face and frowned to himself; there was something wrong. Even though Yuki had spent 17 years perfecting the art of hiding his emotions, his eyes never failed to betray him. He'd noticed over the last three years, however, that Yuki had been wearing his heart on his sleeve a bit more; a little after a month since they had met Tohru, the silver-haired teenager had actually smiled. Shigure had to admit that, while she had definitely made an impact on all of them, Yuki seemed to be the one benefiting the most from Tohru's presence; more so even, than Kyo.

And _that_ was saying something!

When Shigure really bothered to think about it, which definitely happened more than he cared to admit, Yuki had been acting differently since the storm a few weeks ago. And if anyone actually asked him, he would readily dish out his suspicions.

"Shigure I," Yuki paused as though he was having difficulty saying something; Shigure put it down to his cousin's habit of thinking through everything he ever said, "I need to tell you something."

Shigure hid a smile behind one of his robe's long sleeves. This was going to be fun.

"Sure Yuki, fire away." He said, shooting him his best 'tell-uncle-Shigure' look.

"Well, um, it's about Honda-san and…" he looked slightly pained, "and me."

"What about you and Tohru?" Shigure asked sweetly.

Yuki shot him an irritated look; this had been so much easier when he'd told Hatsuharu. Although that had was mainly because Haru had known exactly what it was he wanted to tell him before Yuki had said anything at all. It was slightly creepy how he managed to do that.

_"Let's try that again shall we?" _

"You know, me and Honda-san are…"

"Are what?"

"We're…"

"You're what?"

Yuki's violet eyes flashed dangerously, "I'd be able to tell you if you'd stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" Shigure asked innocently, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"That!"

"Well instead of exploding at me why don't you spit it out?" He asked amicably.

"I'm not going to say anything if you're going to keep doing that, really I don't know why I'm telling you at all."

"What am I doing?"

"That!"

"What?"

"That!"

"Oh Yuki just spit it out!"

"Fine! Tohru and I are dating!"

Yuki stood there, gaping like a codfish as what he'd just shouted really sank in. he sat down heavily on the floor with a thump and groaned as the distinctive sound of feet on the stairs rang in the air. Moments later the door slammed open and an apparently livid Kyou stood in the opening.

"What did you just say?" He ground out.

"Screamed actually." Shigure pointed out cheerfully.

There was silence from Yuki's corner of the room.

"You damn rat! What the hell did you just say?"

Yuki sighed and raised his head long enough to say; "Tohru and I are dating."

"Hmm, I thought so. It's about time." The red-head said flatly.

Yuki's head snapped up in surprise.

"What?"

Shigure, meanwhile, was faking crying with happiness.

"Oh do my ears deceive me or are the rat and the cat finally getting along?" He mimicked blowing his nose loudly into the sleeve of his robe.

"_Don't_ get used to it." Kyo growled before storming up to Yuki, towering over him dangerously. "If you so much as _think_ about breaking her heart I will break _you_." He said in a low voice before turning on his heel and stomping angrily out of the room.

Under the circumstances, Yuki didn't think any comment along the lines of 'wait, I think I've heard this one before' would be completely wise.

"Well," sniffed Shigure, "it was a good competition but I give up; you've so obviously won."

"What are you talking about?" Yuki asked with a long-suffering sigh.

"I've always had a soft spot for our little flower but," and here he began to cry almost convincingly, "I'll concede defeat and back off, you have my word."

Yuki shook his head in disgust.

"I don't know which of you two is the worst, you or Ayame."

As the door slammed shut behind the teenager, Shigure couldn't help but grin evilly. Speaking of Ayame…

As he reached for the phone, Shigure laughed to himself; that really _had _been fun.

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**It's short I know, but don't despair, read on for a longer chapter! **

**Hope you enjoyed that :)**

**Hiroko**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Note that the quote in italics is from Epsiode 6 of the english dubbed series of Fruits Basket!**

**Oh and just to avoid confusion although I think I make it pretty clear, this is set about three or four years after the series. **

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Yuki looked yawned suddenly and rubbed his eyes tiredly; this was getting him nowhere. He shut the text book resting on his lap and checked his watch; 12:30am, past midnight.

Yuki closed his eyes briefly and rested his head back on the pillow she had put behind him before falling asleep herself. He sat on the floor in her room, surrounded by a sea of paper and text books filled with anatomy, physiology and various other bits and pieces.

Exams; they had become the bane of his existence in the past three years at University. When he had approached Hattori at the end of High School to ask for advice about medicine, the quiet man hadn't been kidding when he'd said it would be the hardest thing he would ever do in his life.

_"It's worth it though." _Yuki thought with a smile, sitting up and bending forward over his knees to gather his study materials together.

Stretching out his long legs in front of him, he reflected on just how much more comfortable it was to study at his desk in his room. But then, Tohru had needed him there tonight and so he had moved in momentarily.

Since collapsing earlier that morning with yet another stress-induced fever, she'd been constantly apologising to him for taking up too much of his precious study time. He'd only rolled his eyes, told her she was beginning to sound like Ritsue, and then moved the contents of his desk onto her floor where he'd been for the majority of the day.

He sighed contentedly and regarded her room from underneath hooded eyelids. From her closet, covered in photos of Kyo, Shigure, various other members of the Sohma family, Hana, Uo and a plethora of snaps of herself and Yuki, to the desk in the corner where her chef's uniform hung over the back of her chair.

Yuki's small smile appeared in remembrance of her stress-tirade that morning.

_"Oh I can't be sick, they're short-staffed as it is tonight and I'll be fired and…" _She'd collapsed in a faint right at that moment and Yuki had left her in Kyo's capable hands to take her upstairs while he tackled the head chef at her restaurant. As he'd predicted, her boss was very understanding; after all, Tohru had only ever taken one day off since she went into her apprenticeship three years ago.

He had no idea how she did it; how she managed to work full time as a chef's apprentice in a busy French-Japanese fusion restaurant only to come home after a long day to cook for a full house _and _clean up after three messy men on her days off.

He, Shigure and Kyo really did try; Kyo even did his fair share of the cooking. But between Shigure's looming dead-lines, Yuki's ridiculous study schedule and Kyo's commitments to the dojo (and Kagura, who was high maintenance with a vengeance), there was very little time left for them to lend a hand.

It was a constant source of guilt for Yuki, but Tohru constantly assured him with that brilliant smile of hers, that she really didn't mind. The thing that constantly amazed him was that she genuinely didn't! He was fairly convinced that if she ever ran out of things to do or people to care for, she might implode.

The springs of the bed creaked as she stirred from her deep sleep. Yuki held his breath, turning his head to make sure she remained asleep, and letting it out softly as her eyes stayed closed. He had to smile; she looked so peaceful asleep, the rosy flush of her cheeks the only hint that something was wrong. He reached out and gently brushed a stray lock of her brown hair out of her eyes, trying not to laugh as she unconsciously scrunched up her nose in irritation. Sometimes, that girl was too cute for her own good.

He turned to the door as it slid open quietly and Shigure stepped into the room holding a cup of tea in one hand. Yuki smiled in gratitude at his cousin as the dog handed him the cup before joining him on the floor beside Tohru's bed.

"How is she?" He whispered as quietly as possible.

"No change," Yuki murmured back just as quietly, "it's a bad one."

Shigure frowned, watching with a little incredulity as the young man blew into the hot drink as calm as even Hattori could be.

"You don't seem too worried." He observed a little accusingly.

He had a point; Kyo had been pacing the roof for most of the afternoon and Shigure himself hadn't been able to write a single word since morning.

"You're right, I'm not."

"How can you say that?"

"Because it's only a fever." Yuki lowered the cup and sighed as he saw his cousin's uncomprehending expression. "Seriously Shigure, she'll be fine. Hattori gave her a very mild sedative to get her to calm down long enough to sleep it off; that's all she really needs."

Shigure huffed sullenly, "you know you're even beginning to sound like that dragon. He's much too blasé about these turns for my liking."

"That's because there's nothing to worry about. It's just Tohru's body telling her she needs to stop." He smiled wryly and shot his cousin a sidelong look. "I don't think that's something to worry about considering it's what I try to tell her pretty much every day." He turned back to his tea and stared into it thoughtfully. "You know, I think that's probably the only thing that really irritates me about her. She probably has an entire list somewhere in here containing all the things that annoy her about me," he finished with a fond smile.

Shigure regarded the silver-haired young man sitting beside him and couldn't help but marvel at the change that had gradually taken hold in his behaviour. While he still kept his mask up around strangers, he had steadily become more relaxed and willing to show his emotions around his family; something that had never really happened before. It was as though Tohru had taken a hammer and chisel to the stone that had encased him, and chipped away at it over the time she had been such a big part of his life.

Shigure shook his head in amusement.

"What?" Yuki asked.

"You are so whipped Yuki."

Yuki stared at him incredulously for a few seconds before thumping him on the shoulder, a huge grin on his face.

"Hey!" Shigure whispered, "You know it's true."

Yuki shrugged, "probably." He conceded, taking a sip of his tea.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Shigure sat up straight.

"Come on, we should get some sleep."

Yuki nodded and, pushing his books into a corner near her bed, stood with his cousin. They paused at the doorway.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask, when are you going to do it?"

Yuki looked back at his girlfriend's sleeping form with a fond smile.

"Soon." He said, before sliding the door shut.

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__Oftentimes in memory, there is a tendency to romanticize the people we care about; I know this. And in spite of this fact the truth remains: she was my spring. Yes, if as Akito said I had become the frozen snow in the dark, secretive world of the Sohmas, then she was the fresh, vibrant spring, full of life and light. _

_"You don't have to be afraid, not of me." _

Hattori rubbed his eyes tiredly and sat back in his chair with a sigh. His eyes flicked briefly towards the picture sitting inconspicuously on the bookshelf above his desk. He had always been a little melancholy around the anniversary but this year it was worse;

It was snowing.

Hattori had never been one to show his emotions, at least not after her, but around this time of year he became, if possible, even more closed off. Somehow, it seemed to make everything easier.

He sighed once more and turned back to the folder he had been perusing. The moment he picked up his pen, however, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in Yuki." He called, not bothering to turn around.

On the other side of the door, Yuki started in surprise. He shook his head at himself before entering the room.

"I hope I'm not interrupting your work Hattori." He said quietly, manoeuvring the books in his hands a little so he could close the door.

"You are, but it's alright. What do you want?"

Yuki shook off his relative's flat tone and crossed to his desk.

"I have a few questions if that's alright." He said, his hand poised over one of his text books.

"Ok, fire away."

"How do you sort out when the brain takes over from the enteric nervous system in digestion; it's got me completely confused."

Hattori raised an eyebrow at the simplicity of the question. "Come on Yuki, surely you must have moved on from basic physiology by now."

Yuki sighed and closed his text book, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

In a lot of ways, Hattori could see much of himself in the silver-haired young man; a thought that both pleased and frightened him especially under the circumstances. He had been watching Yuki gradually coming out of his emotional shell and he had more than a passing suspicion that it had an awful lot to do with a certain young lady.

When he thought about it, he figured somebody, somewhere, was having a really good laugh at his expense and he knew it was all because of the strong feeling of déjà vu he'd been experiencing lately.

"What are you really here for Yuki?" He asked, shooting a side-long glance at the photo sitting on the shelf.

There was a reason Yuki was studying something as gruelling as medicine; not least of all because of his keen observation skills. Hattori couldn't have hidden the gesture even if he tried. His expression softened and he suddenly understood.

"How many years is it now Hattori?" He asked gently.

Hattori smiled the guilty smile of someone who's been found out. "Ten." He murmured.

Yuki sighed, thinking that now was not the best time to talk to him.

"I'd better go." He said, standing.

"Not a day goes by where I wish it had been different Yuki." Hattori said suddenly.

Already at the door, Yuki stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I wish… I sometimes find myself wishing that I'd never met her in the first place."

Yuki turned slowly to see the tall doctor sitting slumped in his seat, the photo of Kana in his hands.

"But then, I try to imagine what it would have been like if I _had _never met her and I realise that…" he raised his head to look directly at Yuki, "I _can't._"

Hattori stood and turned to look at the photo again and slowly, almost reverently, placed it back onto the shelf. Still looking at the photo he spoke, "I know why you came here today Yuki and I have one piece of advice for you:" He spun and his gaze was almost pleading,

"Don't let Akito find out."

Yuki stared at him incredulously for a moment then his expression softened into one of gratitude.

"Thankyou Hattori-san."

As the door closed behind him Hattori sat back down in his chair and turned to the small picture-frame.

"I hope they have better luck than we did Kana."

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**Well I think that's the longest chapter I've written so far, hopefully they'll all be like that. We'll see. **

**Review please! I really love hearing from you all (good and bad welcome by the way, I can deal with it sniff really.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yo! Yes I'm back again. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! **

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Yuki yawned uncontrollably and stumbled down the wooden steps, the fog of sleep still clouding his brain. He lurched into the kitchen, completely disregarding the short blue curtain above the door and, after untangling himself, shuffled up to the vague shape standing at the sink.

"Good morning Yuki-kun." Tohru laughed as his forehead came to rest on her shoulder with a thump.

He grunted unintelligibly in reply.

Tohru put the last of the now clean dishes on the drying rack and brushed her hands on her apron.

"Yuki, could you move for a second?"

Yuki, somehow hearing her through the fog, stood up and watched her through lidded eyes as she moved to the bench, picking something up and pushing it into his hands.

"Careful, it's hot."

Yuki stared at it for a second, then slowly, a smile spread across his face as he brought the steaming, western-style mug up to his nose and inhaled deeply. Almost immediately, his mind cleared and his large, violet eyes, opened fully. It never failed to amaze him that even just the smell of coffee could wake him up as much as it did.

He blinked.

"Tohru-chan, what are you doing?"

Tohru spun around and grinned at him sheepishly.

"Um…"

"Tohru," Yuki sighed fondly, "today's your day off, and you don't need to cook for everyone."

She wrung her hands in her apron.

"I know, I tried but I can't help it, I…"

Yuki hid a smile behind his coffee cup; she'd probably been wrestling with the 'call of the rice cooker' since she'd come down for breakfast. Calmly resting his mug on the bench he crossed the room and placed one hand over her mouth.

"I love you, did you know that?" He said before planting a kiss on her forehead and moving back to his coffee.

Blushing, Tohru turned back to packing away the lunch she had made for Shigure and Kyou while Yuki picked up the newspaper and continued sipping his coffee.

Tohru had come to treasure these moments; when it was just the two of them in the morning. Yuki, considering he was _the _worst morning person she had _ever _seen, didn't really talk much, but then he had never been one to fill the silence with unnecessary chatter. It had taken her a while to realise that fact; to be honest, she had always worked on the principle that if someone was within earshot, one must talk to them. Over the time she'd known Yuki, her motor-mouth tendencies had dwindled somewhat; so-much-so that now just knowing he was there (in varying degrees of consciousness) was enough for her.

Then again…

"So where are we going today?" She asked, turning to her boyfriend and reaching behind her to undo her apron.

Yuki looked up from the paper and smiled slyly. "Now that's for me to know, and for you to find out."

Tohru grinned and clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh I'm really looking forward to this! I'll go and get ready."

Yuki's eyes sparkled with amusement over the rim of his coffee cup as he watched her practically skip out of the kitchen. He had no sooner settled back to the newspaper when Shigure slipped stealthily through the door.

"Haru just wanted to let you know that everything's in place; you just have to turn up."

Yuki looked up and glared at his cousin. "Oh great thanks."

Shigure had the decency to look confused. "What?"

"Now I'm nervous."

Shigure smiled and, in a show of supportive-older-cousin-ness, laid a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Would you like me to call Aya? At a time like this, the advice and support of an older brother could be…" Shigure finally caught the gist of Yuki's murderous expression, "Or I could just wish you good luck."

In spite of himself, or perhaps it was the nerves, Yuki smiled. Shigure took this as an indication he was out of the woods.

"Of course you need only say the word and Uncle Shigure will come to your…"

Upstairs, Tohru straightened from looking through her wardrobe in an attempt to find something nice enough to wear through her myriad of black and white-checked pants and white shirts; perhaps she was taking her job a little too seriously.

_"Yuki must've run into Kyo." _She reasoned, shrugging at the sounds of tearing rice paper and splintering wood drifting through the floor.

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Tohru lay back on the picnic blanket and stared at the sky, a gigantic smile splitting her face in two. The day had been one surprise after another since they'd arrived at the large botanic gardens in one of the Sohma family cars around lunchtime. The expansive grounds covered an area from a small lake in the west, to the mountain range in the east. It was pristine, attention-capturing and, more importantly, devoid of any human beings and/or zodiac animals. 

In Yuki's mind; ideal.

Tohru sighed happily and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the summer sun on her face.

"It's nice isn't it?"

"Hmmm." Tohru murmured in agreement.

Yuki lifted his chin and closed his eyes, mirroring her. Really, the day had been going swimmingly well. Tohru had even genuinely enjoyed lunch (she had unfortunately fallen victim to the 'curse of the chef' where one, even someone as forgiving as she was, became unbelievably critical of other people's cooking; not that she'd ever actually _say _anything to that effect, but Yuki knew her well enough to know what she was thinking).

All that was left to do that day was…

Yuki swallowed nervously; he'd been planning this day for almost six months; why was it so hard?"

"Yuki?"

The silver-haired young man opened his eyes and blinked. Tohru was poised, with a plate over the picnic basket, regarding him with her wide, and in Yuki's opinion, completely unfair eyes.

"Hmm?"

"You drifted off for a second there." Tohru told him, a small smile on her face.

"Did I?" he smiled back sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"You seem worried Yuki."

_'You noticed.' _He thought wryly.

"Is everything alright?"

Yuki nodded, attempting to be reassuring. "Yes, I'm ok."

Fortunately for him, he'd had a little over twenty one years of experience in hiding his emotions so Tohru seemed to believe him. Yuki helped her put away the dishes and Tupperware containers before sitting back on the small hill and staring out over the lake.

He smiled and turned his head in her direction as she sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, careful as always to refrain from hugging him. As they sat there, Yuki couldn't help but feel he was, quite possibly, the luckiest man alive.

"This is nice." Tohru murmured, once again seemingly reading his mind.

"Hmmm."

"We should do this more often."

"Hmmm."

Tohru loosely wound her fingers through his and closed her eyes, sighing contentedly. A feeling of wonderful drowsiness began to creep in around the edges of her consciousness and she shifted slightly. She made a happy sound as Yuki pressed his lips to the top of her head. She was drifting into a light doze now, floating through the haze of half-sleep.

"Marry me?"

Suddenly, she was very much awake.

"What?" Tohru's sat up so quickly she collected Yuki's chin with the top of her head. "Ah! Yuki I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Thab'th othay." Yuki told her somewhat awkwardly; he'd bitten his tongue quite forcefully in the collision.

"Here." Tohru handed him her handkerchief.

As Yuki sat there with his girlfriend hovering over him like a gadfly, holding a white hanky to his bleeding tongue, he had to admit; this was _not_ the way he saw the proposal going. In fact, he wasn't even sure she had heard him properly. He sighed inwardly and figured he was cursed anyway; maybe that had something to do with it.

Tohru handed him one of the picnic mugs filled with water and he shot her a grateful look. Removing the handkerchief he made a face as he tasted his own blood and hurriedly took a swig of water. Turning back to Tohru after spitting it out to one side, he stopped, a slightly guilty expression crossing his face. She was looking at him strangely, her features thoughtful.

"What?"

Her lips curved upwards in a small smile.

"Yes." She murmured.

Yuki froze, "Yes what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you." Yuki was almost certain if Tohru smiled any more, her face would break.

As she lunged, laughing, with arms wide open and the inevitable white smoke suddenly appeared, Yuki wondered if rats could smile.

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**So there you go! **

**I'm almost finished the story - still puzzling over a few things though. True to form, I've written the last chapter (mainly becuase it was ridiculously fun :) ) and still have to write the bit in the middle... which just happens to be the most crucial part of the story... go figure. I'm thinking there'll be at least two more chapters though; perhaps three. **

**Hope you liked it!**

**Hiroko**


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